


The Arrow, The Bird, And Me

by PromptPrincette



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Artemis's past, Child Abuse, F/M, Mentions of past abuse, Physical abuse of a child, Triggers, adoption story, sexual abuse of a child, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:10:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2265804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PromptPrincette/pseuds/PromptPrincette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Artemis's mother never returns from prison. Artemis takes up the bow behind her father's back, determined to do some good. She ends up in the care of a certain Oliver Queen, and things are certainly looking up. </p><p>That is, until Oliver starts acting strange. Artemis worries she's done something wrong, but Dinah knows she's done something right.</p><p>Written because I love the idea of this makeshift little family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Having Faith

She's nine the first time she stops a crime. Two teenagers walk out of a store a little too quickly, and by the time the manager yells "Thieves!" she already has them down on the ground, a carton of cigarettes a few feet away.

It's a kind of thrill, doing the right thing. In a family of con-men and villains, doing something against the status-quo is as thrilling as it is terrifying. But she knows she has to keep doing it.

So she decides not to tell anyone.

When she's ten her father gives her a costume. It's black and red, with a hockey mask resembling his own. She tears it apart the next time he leaves, and turns it into something better. A black costume, but this time with green markings. She also opts for a cowl instead of a mask. (Okay, so she thinks Batman is cool. Sue her.)

She doesn't tell anyone, yet again. Not like there's anyone she would tell. Her father might actually murder her, and her sister seemed more distant than normal. She was terrified of her sister leaving, since that would leave her alone with her father. She has faith in the older girl, though, to not leaver her behind.

Which is why, when Jade leaves and her father takes it out on her, it's not the physical blows that make her cry. It's that feeling of abandonment. The knowledge that even her family isn't willing to put up with her, or at the very least drag her along. Still, she's not mad at Jade. She knew her sister acted on instinct, an instinct that told her to flee. An instinct that a younger sister would only drag her down.

She's eleven when she's moved to her first foster home. Not even a month later she's already run away, back to her father. He may have been abusive, but he had never touched her like her foster father had. She never fully recovered from that one.

By that time she was doing 'the hero thing' regularly. For her it was easy to keep her grades up while at the same time fighting crime, and her father was none-the-wiser.

She was twelve when she met Green Arrow. "What's a little girl like you doing out here alone?"

"Trying to fix my father's mistakes."

And he nods in a way that lets her know he respects that. He doesn't know her lineage, not until a month later when she tells him. He mentions calling the police, social services, putting her in a home.

She breaks down, begging and pleading with him not to send her to another hateful home. He's shocked and angry, but agrees. So he teaches her about oxymoron's instead.

She's almost thirteen when he asks the question. Would she leave her father if she would be coming home to Green Arrow?

"Of course."

 So that's what they do. Oliver Queen gains guardianship of the little girl who's father was abusive. The Media ate it up. She met Dinah Lance not long after that, and soon had convinced Oliver and Dinah to go out on a date. She was surprised they had even needed her prodding, since they were so good together.

Soon she finally feels safe living with her 'Uncle Ollie'. The League is watching Sportsmaster as best they can, just in case he tries something on them. She has faith in her Uncle to keep her safe, as well.

It's not long after the Young Justice team is formed that she joins. Roy gives her a hard time about it at first, but she ignores him. She finally feels like she has a family, for the first time in her life. And sure, she still has all of the scars from her past life, but they're healing. Slowly, but surely. She still hasn't told Oliver the extent of her scars, but he knows a lot. Dinah tries to get her to talk, but she just doesn't want to. Things will work out, she knows.

She has faith. 

 

 


	2. Having Uncle Ollie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was unsure how to write Roy, so he's gonna be like a jerkass Artemis. Lemme know if you have suggestions about him or the other characters.

"Uncle Ollie,"Artemis quirked a brow, "I've never seen you this nervous."

The blonde man chuckled, looking down at his niece. He was standing in front of the large mirror in the hallway, and he had adjusted his tie at least three times in the past five minutes. Artemis was leaning on the far door frame, smirking.

"Tonight's the night." He said, more to himself than to Artemis. He was going to propose to Dinah.

Artemis smiled. "About damn time, pops. I was starting to wonder if I was going to get married _before you_."

"Haha, very funny." He decided to ignore the language, simply pleased to have his nieces support. "How's my tie look?"

"Like you've already adjusted it ten times tonight." The knot was warn, and the front of his shirt had wrinkles on it. The girl walked over to him and undid the knot, quickly re-doing it and then straightening the front of the shirt again. "Relax, Uncle. You already know her answer, don't stress yourself out about it."

The man chuckled, eyeing her handiwork in the mirror, "You have a good point." He hesitated for a moment, and the side of his lip twitched back. She knew that happened when he wanted to ask a question, so she waited patiently.

"Y'know, since we know Dinah will say yes, maybe we should think about what happens after. She'll move in with us, surely. Are you okay with that?"

"Uncle," The teen chided, "We've been over this. You don't need my permission."

"But I have it, right?"

"Of course. You know I don't mind Dinah."

He nodded and turned back to the mirror.

"So," She said after a moment, "What were you really about to say?"

His eyes narrowed. That girl knew him way too well.

"I was going to say... You don't have to call me 'Uncle' if you don't want to."

Artemis looked confused. He had been the one to suggest the cover (which soon grew into a truth), why was he changing his mind now? She thought they were closer to being a real family now. Why would he take it back?

"I mean," He cleared his throat, "You're... You're growing up now. Just Ollie is fine."

"...But you're... Ollie seems too..." She struggled to voice her thoughts on the matter. Calling him Ollie seemed both too formal and too informal at the same time. She didn't know if he would understand that.

"Hey, don't stress, kid." He chuckled again, "Call me whatever you want."

She nodded, still a bit unsure. She wondered what had caused this conversation, but she didn't dwell on it. He had to leave soon after, and she sat in her room for a while trying not to think about it. She laid down on her bed, her back against the wall. Something about the way Uncle Ollie had acted seemed strange to her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, though. Maybe he was just nervous?

A succession of taps to her window snapped her out of a bit of a daze. Roy's face, and soon the rest of him, slipped through her window, grinning at her.

"So, tonight's the night, huh?"

"And here I was thinking you didn't care."

"Brat."

"Delinquent."

"You love me."

"You have no proof."

Roy smirked as he laid on her bed, stretched out like he didn't have a care in the world. "So, you're going to be living with _Mom and Pop_ , huh?" The sarcasm in his voice was meant to tease her. She guessed he was jealous, but too proud to admit it.

Artemis blinked. "Uh, I guess so?" She saw Roy's smile broaden, "What's that look for?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just..." He trailed off a bit, grinning in a smug way. Artemis frowned.

"What, are you jealous?" She teased, "You could live here, too, _Daddy's boy_."

"Hey now." He smirked, "Don't think I haven't noticed how well you and Dinah get along. You're just as eager as Oliver to get her in the family, _Mama's girl_."

Artemis blushed, narrowing her eyes. "You really need to ease off on the 'stalking' thing. It's kinda creepy."

The red archer shrugged, sitting up. "Whatever."

"So what's the real reason you came here?"

"Just to check up on you. You know, with Oliver and Dinah getting married, you might actually get that family you were hoping for."

She blushed harder at that, turning away. She had told him, in a moment of poor judgement, that she sometimes (often) wished she had grown up with normal parents; or at least with Oliver.

"Speaking of Uncle Ollie," She switched topics quickly, "He's seemed kinda off lately. Tonight he even told me I could just call him 'Ollie'."

Roy raised a brow, "That is kinda odd. Is that exactly what he said?"

The girl blinked, "Uh, he said... At first he said I didn't have to call him 'Uncle' if I didn't want to, but he seemed really unsure."

The older teen was quiet for a moment before he spoke up, "Did he say that because of Dinah?"

"Something like that. Since 'Dinah would be part of the family now' or something like that."

They were both quiet for a moment. Roy had a face on that was either vaguely irritated or constipated. Artemis wasn't sure which made more sense at the time. Her face, however, slowly took one of realization.

"Oh my God." She said quietly. Roy didn't even look at her when he nodded, clearly on the same page. They were both quiet again as they both leaned back against the headboard.

"Well, I need to get going. I'm supposed to be patrolling. See ya around?"

"Yeah, catch ya later." Artemis nodded, still thinking. At first she had wondered if she had done something wrong, to distance Oliver from herself. Now, however, she wondered if maybe he wanted them to be closer. She considered what else his words could have meant.

_You don't have to call me 'Uncle' if you don't want to._

Her stomach turned as she thought about this. It was obvious at this point that he hadn't really meant to say Oliver. Which meant he might've wanted to say Dad.

Artemis herself felt conflicted about this. On the one hand, Oliver was certainly filling the spot most would call a father's place. On the other, she had bad experiences with dads. She didn't want that to include Oliver, too.

She closed her eyes tightly as she thought this over, eventually realizing she didn't need to worry about it right then. Ollie had chickened out, why couldn't she?

She soon fell asleep, not bothering to change or even get up for the rest of the night.


	3. Dinah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly not sure how long this story will be... Maybe two/three more chapters?

It was much later that night when the blonde girl awoke from where she had fallen asleep on her bed. She heard the front door close, and the familiar 'clang' of keys in the jar by the door made her get up and tiptoe to her bedroom door. She heard two voices, one obviously Oliver's, and the other belonging to his lady friend. Dinah's light laugh carried up the stairs, bringing a smile to Artemis's lips.

The young archer was unsure whether or not to go downstairs. On the one hand, she wanted to see her guardian, but on the other, surely they wanted to be alone?

Her decision was made for her when she heard her uncle say, "Yeah, just let me check in with Artemis. I doubt she's asleep."

She smiled, opening the door. "It went well?"

"Of course." They shared a small grin, and then he cleared his throat and continued in his 'father' voice, "Please tell me you didn't stay awake all night."

It was then that Artemis realized it was five in the morning.

"No, I woke up when I heard the door."

Oliver nodded, looking slightly relieved. "Good. Anything eventful happen?"

"Roy stopped by for a bit. We talked for a while."

"About what?"

She shrugged, "You and Dinah, mostly." She wasn't about to tell him about some of the comments, for sure. Suddenly a new voice entered the conversation.

"All good things, I hope?" Dinah smiled warmly at the younger girl, who returned it.

"Of course." Artemis leaned on her door frame and crossed her arms, glaring playfully, "Now, Dinah, you know full well his curfew is one."

"Yes, I'm sorry," The older woman played along, much to Oliver's embarrassment, "But there was a robbery downtown, and those damned armored vans kept disappearing."

"You two are horrible." Oliver shook his head, turning back to the stairs. "I'm going to make coffee."

Once the man was gone, Dinah and Artemis went into her room and closed the door. "Please tell me you at least made him panic a little." Artemis said, referencing the proposal.

"Tch, I didn't. I was too excited; he knew my answer right away." Dinah seemed disappointed, and Artemis laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be on his side?" Dinah raised a brow, "I mean, I'm the new parent here and all."

Artemis shrugged. "It's more fun to mess with him."

Dinah nodded her agreement before moving on to the next topic. "So... I'm going to be moving in now. And, well, marrying Oliver."

The younger girl nodded, and the older one continued. "So, you're okay with all of this? Any ground rules I should know about?"

Artemis rolled her eyes as yet another person asked her opinion of the situation. "Yes, I'm fine. I don't understand why people think I might have a problem with it. You two are happy, shouldn't that be all that matters?"

Dinah shifted, obviously aware of the girl's annoyance. "That should matter, yes, but... Doesn't this seem more permanent to you?"

Artemis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Dinah hesitated, unsure of where was safe to go. "I mean, originally you staying with Ollie was temporary, right?" When the girl nodded she continued, "Well, obviously now it's more permanent. We're a family. Does that... Bother you?"

"Does it bother me to have a family?" Despite her confusion, Artemis smiled a little as Dinah laughed.

"I mean," The older woman continued, "I don't want you to think that I--that Ollie and I-- are trying to replace your parents. We want to do what's best for you."

"And you are." Artemis assured her, "You both are."

"Good." Dinah tugged at a lock of her hair. "Good."

There was a moment of silence before Artemis asked, a bit shyly, "Has Uncle Ollie seemed off to you, lately?"

Dinah seemed a bit surprised. "Yes, a bit. He and I talked about it during dinner."

"...And...?"

"And I think you should ask him yourself." Dinah smirked, irritating the young girl.

"I did try!" She groaned, "He just started talking nonsense!"

Dinah laughed, throwing her head back and shaking it slightly. "He told me about that, actually!"

"He told me not to call him 'Uncle'." Her face darkened, "I think he's gone mad."

This time both females laughed, leaning on each other for support.

"He has his reasons." Dinah assured her. The older woman seemed to want to tell her, but Artemis knew she wouldn't get far. So she shrugged, deciding to let it go. Again. Dinah draped an arm around the younger girl's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go eat some breakfast."

"Okay."

 

 


End file.
